EPILOGUE

Eloise

5 years later...

"Mommy!!!" I hear Julie scream from the kitchen door, I look at her pretty little face and she's red with angry eyes, her reddish hair is also messy and dirty.

"Heavens, who did this to you daughter?" I asked walking to her and fixing her hair in a ponytail, also removing all the dirt.

"James! I was playing with the puppy and he started to get in my way." She says with tears in her eyes, I smile remembering how I was exactly like that.

"Go wash your hands, lunch is almost ready." I speak and she leaves bouncing around the house. "James!" shouts the little dark-haired boy who runs non-stop after the new member of the family, a mutt with big ears. Jared.

"Mummy, he won't let me ride him!" He mutters, pouting.

"Of course not, he's a dog, not a horse. Now come here." I call the same that comes against my will. "You can't get your sister's hair dirty, or any of them, just play, got it?" I speak in a firm tone and he nods.

"It's okay mommy." Answers.

"Now go wash your hands for lunch." I send and he runs out of the house.

"Yay! I'm really hungry." Talk while going up the stairs.

"It doesn't even look like he ate three loaves of bread in the morning, my friend, this boy is only four years old but he eats more than me." Olivia, who was upstairs changing Pedro's diaper, says smiling as she goes down the stairs.

"Even in that he is identical to his father." I speak and we burst out laughing.

"Here you little tot, I think you're hungry, Aunt Liv's beasts!" She makes a monster face and leaves the baby on the floor, with her two years old Pedro is very smart and already says everything, but since he just woke up he has his little time of bad mood.

I take my little boy in my arms and go to the backyard in search of another one, Florence, my third daughter, Julian made sure she was named after Julie who was named after him, my beautiful princess was swinging on a swing that the father had made, it was low so that everyone could reach and not run the risk of falling and thus getting hurt. She smiles as if she is playing with someone, her light locks falling a little on her angelic face, as soon as she sees me, she runs and hugs me.

"Hi mommy!" Smiling she looks at me, finally she looked like me, after having, Julie and James as the copy of the father, Florence came with my appearances but to complete the cycle, Pedro decided to continue that they would be similar to the father, what II love it because my husband is the most handsome man in the world.

"Come eat my love, where are your slippers?" I ask seeing her bare feet.

"It's there." She says and runs to get it. "Mom, I have to tell you a secret." she whispers and I look at her puzzled.

"You can speak my flower." I say giving you confidence.

"I have a little friend, other than Julie, she says her name is Florence too, and she says I'm a princess and you're a queen and daddy is the king, and our house is a castle, of love ." She pauses and I feel my heart flutter in my chest. "She also said that she loves us very, very, very much." Complete the run out into the house.

I adjust Pedro in my lap and tears begin to flow from my eyes, could it be my grandmother who appealed to my daughter? But how? I never believed in these things, however my little one would never come up with something like that, she is just an innocent baby. But just in case, I look at the sky, I look everywhere.

"I love you my queen, we love you!" I whisper and feel an immense calm inside me. I take a deep breath and go back inside where I find all my little kids sitting at the dining room table.

"Who's hungry?" I ask excitedly as I enter.

"I!!!" They scream smiling. I look at Olivia who is talking on the phone, she seems to be fighting with someone.

I put Pedrinho in his chair and then I serve each one's plate, with the food of the day, my children's favorite dish: Beef Stroganoff. It's still early, it wasn't even noon, but my children eat at that time, I'm not going to eat now, I've always had the habit of waiting for my husband to arrive for lunch or dinner and it will always be like that, not to mention that he loves it when I do that.

When my babies finish their dishes, I collect everything and put it in the sink, after drinking the juice, we all go to the bathroom and there we play the game of brushing our teeth, among many laughs and laughter we complete another phase of our day, I put them sitting in the living room for rest, James is very agitated wanting to play but I make it clear to him that he needs to digest his lunch first.

"What the hell!" Olivia exclaims angrily next to me.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask.

"Idiot Agnelo! Shit, it's been five years and he's still an asshole, it just keeps me from telling him the truth. I hate myself for loving him so much!" My friend hugs me and cries on my shoulder, as she has always done since she met Agnelo.

"Look, you know that sooner or later he's going to find out, you better tell him soon, and Liv, if he's not doing you any good, if you cry more than you smile because of him, try to forget about him, don 't let him him ruining your mental health, please, I love you and I don't like seeing you like this one bit." I speak with all my sincerity.

Olivia and Agnelo have had a troubled relationship for the last five years, I'm upset by the way he treats my friend, so much so that I barely speak to him when he comes over at Julian's invitation, he always has an excuse to dump her a woman who loves him more than anything and when he has no other commitment he seeks her out, and the silly girl runs like a puppy to the bone. Advice no longer exists for them, my husband and I have tried everything to help them, but we let it go when we saw that there was no way. My friend keeps a secret from him, which I cannot reveal as it is not about me, I have no right to do so.

"I'm so indecisive and stupid, but I promise I'll do my best for him. " She says confidently and smiles. Suddenly I hear my cell phone ring, I pick it up quickly hoping it's my husband, but it's someone else, one of my loves.

"It is john." I speak to Olivia.

"Oh yes, I spoke to him this morning. I've actually needed him so much these last few years." She says and walks to the living room where the children are.

"João! How long..." I answer smiling.

"How are you? How are the most beautiful babies in the world? Tell them Uncle John will be back soon with lots of presents." He exclaims quickly.

"They are fine and ask for you all the time, they just forget about you when their dad is home." I say looking around and seeing Olivia with Pedro on her lap and the others watching cartoons on TV.

"I knew that, Julian took everything from me, first it was you, then my nephews, but that's ok, one day I'll also have my own children and I want to see them prefer Julian." He says in a mocking tone causing a laugh from me.

"How's Larissa? Are you having fun there in New York?" I inquire.

"We're doing wonderfully. We're thinking of spending a few more weeks here, she's loving it. I'm thinking of asking her to marry me. But first I have to think a lot, it's not something like that overnight. " He declares and I feel more surprised than ever.

"Wow João, this is really good. I cheered for you so much!" I speak with a heart full of happiness for my best friend.

"Thanks Pumpkin. Now I gotta go, I have a few more rides to offer my girl. See you soon, give the kids a kiss and Julian a hug for me. Love you family!" He leaves happily.

"Enjoy your trip a lot! Bye and see you later. And we love you too!" I leave happy.

João, after finishing the course of Mechanical Engineering, found a good job and settled with Larissa, moved from his parents' house, thus buying an apartment in the center of the city, currently he traveled to enjoy his holidays in New York, according to him it was the dream of his girlfriend, which he wanted to fulfill. The two look so happy that it makes me happy just to see them in the pictures.

"Friend, I have to go. See you soon." Olivia says goodbye with two kisses.

"Fine, come back whenever you want, call me if you need anything. Love you see?" I say and give him a strong hug.

"Thank you my friend. Thank you very much." She returns the hug and leaves.

"Now I want to know who wants to take a nap with mommy?" I ask my little ones who are super excited dancing to a children's song on TV.

"At the!!!" They scream and run across the room.

"But I doubt you guys can reach me all the way to the bedroom." I challenge them and run up the stairs. When I'm upstairs I hear the little steps running behind me and the most delicious laughs in the world sound through the house.

On the big mattress that is on the floor of the nap room we lay down playing like at a children's party, it's so delicious, it's the best thing in the world for me, I look at each one of them and think about how my life has changed in such a short time. a little while, for the better. I don't regret anything and would do it all over again, my children are everything to me, knowing that they are the children of the man of my life, the man I love with all my being, makes my heart explode with love, it's inexplicable that I feel.

Julian

I can't wait to get home and be surprised by my children with their smiles and their games, it's so good that I can't think of another one when I walk out the door, all I can think about is getting back to me beautiful wife as soon as possible and wonderful, and for our babies, I confess we were fast, since when we got married, five years ago, every year was a new baby, I suspect that Eloíse is pregnant again because she is much more insatiable than she normally is, my cat turns into a tigress.

I don't love her the same way I did the day we got married, I love her much, much more, every day I fall in love with her again, when I see all that she has given me, all that she has made in me, without saying anything, just with her innocence stolen by me and her purity, also stolen by me, she showed me that the world wasn't just evil, it also showed me that there is true love, that there is the purest of loves, that that's what feelings for our perfect little children. Damn, I love that woman so much!

"What are you thinking about?" Agnelo surprises me with a cup of coffee.

I went out to take the car to the garage, my wife went out alone with the car and ended up hitting a fence. But I got a call from my friend saying he needed to talk to me urgently. I know there's something else and he's going to have to tell me now, or my name isn't Julian Esguerra.

"I'm thinking about my wife and children." I answer, looking him up and down. "Have you been drinking man?" I ask seeing dark circles and stubble on his face.

"Fuck! Fuck! I can't take any more Julian!" he exclaims and sits down across from me. "I'm crazy about that woman my friend, I'm crazy about her, I've been crazy about the same woman for five years now, I don't know what to do!" He grabs her hair and takes a deep breath.

(...)

I leave Agnelo's house after giving him some advice, the same ones I always give, but it seems to go in one ear and out the other, what a fucking hard-headed man. I've already told him that I'm not going to say anything else until he takes a manly attitude and admits to everyone that he wants to be with Olivia.

In addition, he also told me that Harry was referred to a center for people with mental problems, he was giving a lot of problems in jail and even tried to commit suicide, so they thought it was better that way. Brenda and Antônio were sentenced to life in prison for all the crimes of fraud and also the false accusation against me. I feel relieved and secure that my family is finally well and above all that justice is being served.

I drive quickly and anxiously to my house. There seem to be days when I don't see my family when it's only been a few hours. Well, they say that for those who love, the hours become eternal when you are far away. I get out of the car and enter the house in a hurry, I look around and everything is silent, could it be that I took so long and they are already sleeping in the afternoon? I look at the watch on my wrist and it's exactly 2:05 pm, I missed putting them to sleep. I feel sad and disappointed, it's my greatest pleasure to do this in all these years with my wife.

I go up the stairs two at a time and as soon as I look at the room my eyes fill with tears, it's a scene I'll never get tired of seeing, Eloise with her shiny red hair spread across the pillow, Julie lying with her head on her thigh, Florence on the left arm, James on the right thigh and Pedro on the right arm. Next to them is an open book and some pages torn by the mattress. They are all sleeping in a deep and pleasant sleep, what a beautiful scene! I take my cell phone and take a picture, I will definitely develop it and make a frame.

"Sorry I'm late..." I whisper even though I know they won't hear.

"Ah, you've arrived!" To my surprise she is not sleeping, she opens her eyes and looks at me fondly.

"Pardon me." I ask looking at her guiltily.

"Okay, you have tonight." She says quietly and stands up. "Let's get them to lie down straight." Together we put the four of them to bed as they feel more comfortable, we know every detail of them. I get up and bring my beloved with me, not without first giving a kiss to the fragrant little heads lying there.

"Now can I steal my wife a little bit?" I ask, grabbing her waist and without waiting for an answer, I take her lips, the same ones that remain as sensitive and sweet as ever.

"So, did you solve the car problem?" She asks holding back a laugh, surely remembering who broke it last week.

"Yes, and I also bring news from the Barierre. Quickly making it clear that I was delayed because of Agnelo, he begged me to come to his apartment and listen to the same things as usual." I reveal it and my wife looks at me as if she already knows.

"Olivia was here too, the two were arguing over the phone." She says and after that I tell her everything about the fate of the people who ruined our lives.

I find myself thinking, if I hadn't escaped from the asylum that day? Would I have known her? If I had to spend all those years trapped in a kind of asylum to finally meet Eloise, the great love of my life. I swear, I'd do it all over again.

"I love you, my love. You are so beautiful, our children are so beautiful, you are the works of art that complete my life, my joy. Thank you, thank you so much for being my everything, for everything." I declare myself and she already has her eyes full of tears.

"Hold me Julian, my love." She asks and I do. "I love you, I love you, I love you! I am where I thank you for being the best man in the world, the best husband and the best father." She exclaims and kisses me with sweet lips.

When we're alone, it's like this, under the sheets and sweaty, loving each other with the same intensity as the first time, nothing has changed, she's still the most delicious woman in the world, the love of my life, the woman I love with all my heart. to be. When I see her shudder in my arms, it's just as pleasurable as being inside her. My beautiful, my goddess, the girl who stole my heart when I felt like nothing.

Eloise, forever mine.

End. ❤ ️